A Twist of Fate
by Meagan Brooke
Summary: My version of Blood Promise. Will Rose find Dimitri? And if she does, will she find a way to save him, or will she kill him? A RosexDimitri fanfiction.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

**Okay, here's the deal: So I was writing a RosexAdrian version of Blood Promise, when I decided that I wanted to split the story at the end of Chapter 6 and take it two directions! So yay!!! If you have read my Blood Promise, then you're going to have some major deja-vu, so (ONLY IF YOU HAVE READ MY BLOOD PROMISE) SKIP TO CHAPTER 6!! Please! **

**Disclaimer: characters and book=not mine! Everything else=mine!**

As I walked briskly away from the Academy, I could feel a million emotions gushing into my head from the bond: anger because I was leaving her, jealousy because I chose Him over her, resentment that I was able to just run away from her and the school, hope because I promised that I would be back for her, fear that He would kill me, and courage because she knew I could handle anything.

_Just don't die on me, Rose. If you died, I'd have to die too. I love you—be careful._

A single tear rolled down my cheek as I walked away, and I tried for all I was worth to keep it together. I could handle this, Lissa was right. I could feel the three stakes that I had stolen before I left cutting into my skin. I had hidden one in my boot, one on the inside of my long jacket, and one in a hard-to-find compartment in my backpack. All I could do now was hope that Dim—that He did not kill too many before I found him. I would not allow myself to think of that thing as Dimitri. Not my beautiful, loving, perfect Dimitri. This thing was a monster, not that man I loved.

So I set out to Missoula, to look first at the mall where he once bought me lip gloss, then at the house in Spokane where I had made my first kill. Then, if he was not there, I would catch a plane to Siberia—his home.

I had reached the highway by then, so I stepped to the side of the road to flag down a car and hitch a ride to Missoula. I wasn't scared of humans now, I had handled much worse. Three cars went by before one actually stopped for me. It was a silver Kia with two young-looking guys in the driver and passenger seats. It stopped in front of me, the window rolling down. My back straightened. _They're probably perverts_, I told myself.

"Hey, you need a ride?" the guy with the blonde hair called. He was driving. His friend in the passenger seat was looking at me with concern, and I realized how crazy I probably looked: a girl with long, almost-black hair, wearing all black, with a black backpack that was stuffed full, black boots with a shiny metal stake stuffed down them (only the handle was visible), and winter clothes thick enough for Siberia (which is where I was probably going). I probably looked like some weird goth hitchhiker, or I looked like a bounty hunter. I giggled to myself—I sortof was a bounty hunter. The guy staring at me also had blond hair. Both of them looked to be about twenty-one or so.

"Yeah. Are you guys going through Missoula?"

"Yeah, we are. Hop in." he gave me a dazzling smile, and I noticed his super-white teeth. I opened the door and slid in, hoping they weren't weird or anything, though I'm pretty sure that they were thinking the same about me.

"I'm Daron, and this is my twin brother, Cal. We live in Missoula—just on our way back from visiting our aunt" he sure was a talker.

"Thanks for giving me a ride. I'm Rose; I go to St. Vladimir's Academy just a little ways from here." I glanced at Cal. He hadn't said a word.

"No problem. Running away or something?" he sure was nosy.

"Sortof, I guess. Just have some stuff to take care of and I don't want anyone tagging along." They didn't need to know what kind of business.

"Hmm…" was all he said then. He must have run out of questions. We sat there in silence for a few minutes, until Cal turned around and suspiciously glared at my boot, where my stake was shoved down into it.

"What is that?" he said pointedly.

Crap. "Pepper spray," I lied. He didn't buy it.

"You're lying." He raised an eyebrow, and it took all I had not to start crying right there. He looked so like Dimitri in that moment that my heart ripped in half all over again. "What is it?" he demanded

I leaned forward to where I was about eight inches away from his face. He jumped, not expecting me to move so close or so fast. I forgot that I moved about ten times faster that any human. I knew he wouldn't believe me, so I told him the truth. "It's a stake, of course—I hunt vampires for a living." I smiled at him. Daron almost swerved into a tree, he laughed so hard, but Cal's eyes widened and I knew that he knew I wasn't joking. But he didn't freak out and try to kill me or anything, or even throw me out of the car. Interesting.

"Oh, I see," he said. He started to turn around, but I stopped him by lightly placing my hand on his arm. He glanced at me, obviously confused, and I put one finger across my lips, telling him with my eyes that it was our little secret. He studied me for a moment, then smiled and turned around. I let out the breath I had been holding.

We made it to Missoula without any more conversation, and when we neared the bank, I told them it was my stop. I opened the door and climbed out.

"Nice meeting you, Rose," Daron smiled charmingly. He was actually quite attractive, but his brother definitely got the better looks, I thought. "Nice to meet you…" Cal said. He was uncomfortable, and I wondered why—but I guess finding out that you had picked up a vampire hunter and drove her to your town was kind of taking a toll on him.

"Nice to meet you guys, too. And thanks for picking me up. I might have had to walk here otherwise." I laughed and gave Cal my most heart-breaking smile, hoping that it might help to persuade him to my secret. He smiled back, and I turned around and went into the bank. I went up to the counter and told them that I was withdrawing from Adrian Ivashkov's account, and said that he should have called to tell them I was coming. The woman said that he did, and she made me sign some papers. She handed me a debit card and I thanked her and set off to the mall.

I cased the place thoroughly, along with the surrounding area. I saw no signs of Strigoi. Feeling a bit relieved, I went to the bus stop, just barely catching one that would get me to Spokane. I searched there too, finding no clues. I checked into a hotel and fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

I was running, and the nausea that I felt let me know that he was close behind me. Too close. I picked up the pace, my legs screaming from the exertion. I dodged in and out of trees, hoping to lose him, but he knew my scent too well. He was gaining on me, but I couldn't go any faster. So I turned to fight, my stake raised to strike him. He stopped about eight feet from me.

"Roza, please," he pleaded with me, managing to look so much like the Dimitri that I loved that my heart flipped over.

"No! You're not Dimitri," I screamed. I spat at him, "You're a monster!" we circled each other. He put his hand out to show me he wasn't armed. Like that mattered when he was super-fast, super-strong, and super-deadly.

"Please, it's me! Please! I love you! My Roza, I love you so much. I tried so long to hide it from you, but it doesn't matter any more! I love you, no matter what we are, no matter how old we are!" his voice was so pleading that I faltered, losing my control. He saw it and rushed to me, pulling me into his arms. His face rested against my hair, and he kissed the top of my head. I couldn't stop myself. I dropped my stake, throwing my arms around his neck.

I said nothing; just let the tears run down my face. It did not surprise me when his lips found mine, and I kissed him back. He stopped when I was gasping for breath, hugging me again so that his head rested against my neck.

"I love you, _Roza_. I always will. Forever," and his teeth clamped down on my neck. I screamed.

And then I woke up, but not completely. I was still screaming and my face was soaked with tears. I found myself in Adrian's meadow.

"That has to be the worst nightmare I've experienced," his face showed no sign of his usual sarcasm. And I realized that he wasn't drunk, for once. He looked slightly nauseas. "You okay, little dhampir?" I was sitting on the ground, my knees curled up under my chin, rocking myself back and forth. He sat down beside me, throwing a comforting arm around my shoulders and rubbing my arm.

"No," I sobbed. I threw myself at him, digging my head into his chest and clutching his shirt with my fingers. He pulled me in and ran his hand comfortingly over my upper back in a soothing gesture. He let me cry into his shirtfront for what seemed like forever. Finally, the tears stopped and I pulled back enough to see his face. "I'm sorry…" I didn't know quite what to say.

"Don't worry about it," he smiled. I smiled back and hugged him again.

"I have to go. I need to find him before he kills too many. Or anyone, for that matter," I said, trying to pull away.

"Okay, Rose. But be careful," he pleaded with me, and I knew that he actually cared. He pushed my hair back from my face and kissed my forehead. I must have looked surprised, because he chuckled when he saw my face. He released me.

"Bye Adrian," I waved.

"Goodbye, little dhampir…"


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

The next day, I boarded the plane to Siberia. I was almost positive that I would find him there. I slept most of the way there, only waking up screaming once. When the plane landed, I started walking. And, thanks to Adrian, I didn't freeze to death; his money had bought me the heavy jackets I was wearing. I didn't know where I was going, but I had a feeling that I would have to look far. _With my luck, he'll find me._

I'd been walking for about three hours when I heard something. I whipped around, scanning the area around me. I could feel someone watching me. The nausea told me that there were three Strigoi lurking in the shadows. I was surrounded by snow-covered trees, (I had been walking through a forest) so it was hard to see anything beyond about six yards. I pulled out my stake.

A twig snapped, and I snapped my head around to look in that direction. I found three pairs of red eyes looking out from between the trees. I backed up, bending my knees and getting ready to fight. One of the Strigoi stepped out. He looked hungry. I coiled my muscles, ready to spring on him.

"Pause, young one. We wish only to speak with you," he drawled, sounding extremely bored, like he thought he could take me. _We'll see about that. _By the looks of him, he had been a Moroi before he changed, and he was very old.

"Then speak. But don't come any closer unless you want to die," I threatened, not moving an inch

"Fair enough," he said, crossing his arms. "Now, what on earth would possess a young dhampir to come to Siberia, all on her own?" he questioned me.

"What does that have to do with me killing you?" I said. I was not about to go spilling my sad story to some Strigoi.

He laughed, and it came much too loud to my sensitive ears in this quiet forest. "Well, what is it?" he demanded, "Glory? Are you going to kill all of the Strigoi in Russia so you can go home and brag? Or is it something else? Like…oh, I don't know…. Love?" he seemed to know way too much about me, and I wondered if he had seen the Strigoi that used to be my Dimitri.

"Maybe, maybe not," I said defensively. He was really getting on my nerves.

He laughed again. "Do not try to hide anything from me, young one. I know all about you and your Dimitri. I spoke with him, you know." I flinched when he said the name.

"So, he is here. I knew he would be," I said, even though I knew I was taking the bait. He probably just wanted to get a reaction out of me. But how did he know about Dimitri?

"Yes, he is here. He spoke of you; he described you perfectly, I must say. He knows that you are coming for him. He's waiting for you," he said. I was anxious to get this conversation over with; the nausea was getting steadily worse.

"Good. I could find him a lot faster if you just told me where he is…" I took a step closer.

"I could," he laughed, 'but it would take all the fun out of it. He is in this direction, however." He pointed east.

"Thanks. Sorry about this." I sprang at him, but dodged left at the last second, my leg catching him behind the knees. I was on him in a flash, struggling to shove the stake through his heart.

His hand smacked hard against my chest, propelling me off of him and into the tree behind me. I grunted when I hit the tree. It hurt like hell, and I was pretty sure that my sternum was at least cracked, if it wasn't broken. I sprang up within seconds.

"Nice try," he smirked. I dove at him again, this time managing to stab his leg with the stake. He screamed, "You little—"I got him through the stomach. "You'll pay! He'll kill you, you little brat—"He let out a horrible shriek when I finally managed to get the stake through his heart.

I stepped back, breathing hard. I had just remembered the other two when they jumped at me. I barely got out of their way before they collided with each other. Idiots. I staked one while they were distracted, shoving him away and into the snow.

The one left growled and backhanded me. I stumbled backward and laughed, "It's just you and me now, ugly." I mocked him. The 'ugly' comment seemed to set him off; he lunged at me. I blocked him, but he hit me hard in the side of the head. I staggered sideways, and he was on top of me before I could move. His head came down to my neck, and I tried to distract him by kicking him, hitting him, and just thrashing around. I pushed my leg up and between us, kicking him in the stomach. He fell of off me. I took the opening to stake him.

I stepped back, surprised at how quickly the fight was over. I was breathing hard, and my chest hurt badly. Picking my backpack up from where it had been thrown, I searched it for a lighter and something to wrap my wound with. I found the lighter and set it on the ground. Pulling out the first aid kit, I found a brace and some antiseptic. First, I cleaned the wound from my head, which was still bleeding. I didn't bother bandaging it; it would heal quickly. I used the brace to support my ribs and sternum by wrapping it up and around my right shoulder, across my chest, up and over my left arm, and around my ribs. I did it loose enough to let myself breathe freely, though, knowing that restricting my breathing would give me pneumonia.

I looked down at the Strigoi bodies. "Maybe I should just leave them," I said aloud, but then I saw how close the sun was to setting. I didn't want the smell to draw others here; I would have to spend the night. So I tore a small piece of cloth from each of them and put them in my backpack—I wanted to keep track of how many I killed.

Then I burned them.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

**Hey guys. I just thought that I would take the opportunity to say thanks for reading my fanfic! Haha… But please review! I can't get any better if you don't tell me what's wrong! So review! If you see any grammar errors or misspelled words, or you need to ask a question, just go ahead and tell me. And, if you have any ideas, please tell, because I can always use some help. However, please keep mean comments to yourselves. I appreciate constructive criticism, but comments like, "this sucks, keep your day job because you can't write!" are uncalled for. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Academy or the original characters, but all additions to the story, the thoughts and dialogue, and everything that happens is all me. Hehe**

**Thanks! ~Meagan**

**Oh yeah, and Gabby, the next chapter I post is yours! *evil laugh***

After the bodies were reduced to ashes, I put away the lighter and curled up into a ball with my back to a large rock. I had no intention of sleeping, anticipating another attack before the night was over, but I could not stay awake.

In my dreams, I found Adrian. "Rose!" he called as he ran up to me. He gave me a warm hug then took me by the shoulders and looked me over. "What happened?" he asked. He had seen my head and the blood that dried in my hair.

"Strigoi. Three of them. The leader knew where I can find him."

"But what happened?" he repeated, now looking at the bandage around my chest.

"Oh, this. I tackled him and he pushed me into a tree," I rubbed my back, " and I bet I have a wicked bruise here."

"Let me see," he said with concern.

"Umm…" I was kindof freaked out about him touching me, but I let him, knowing that he just wanted to help. He turned me around and raised the back of my shirt to where my bra was clasped. He gasped. "What is it?" I asked. I'd expected a bruise, but by the way it sounded, I got much worse than that.

"It's horrible…" he said, "It's a bruise, that's for sure." His hand traced gently up my spine, and I cried out in pain. "Sorry…. I wonder…" he said in a weird, faraway tone. Then I felt my back tingling. I whipped around, causing my chest to catch. I yelped and collapsed to the floor, breathing heavily. He knelt down and looked at me.

"Did you just heal me?" I gasped, out of breath.

"I think so," he answered me. He looked just as shocked as I was.

"How is that possible? I'm thousands of miles away…I…but—"I stuttered.

"I don't know, but let me heal these, too," he pleaded. I sighed, knowing that his magic was not as strong as Lissa's, so this was taking a lot of his energy. Finally, I nodded. I slid off my jacket, wincing when my chest throbbed. I had on a tank top under the jacket in my dream, so I could see the bruise. It was purple and black and stretched from the base of my neck to continue down under my shirt. "Ouch…" I whispered. He placed his hands over the bruise, and I whimpered, my eyes tearing up. Then I felt the area tingle, just like my back had. I looked down and the bruise was gone. He did the same with my head.

He sank down beside me, looking like he might faint.

"Whoa. This is weird. Thanks," I leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. He looked surprised, and possibly a little less green than he had been a moment before.

"It's no problem, Rose, if it will get you home faster. Is it wrong of me to say that I hope you find him?" some of his usual sarcasm crept into his voice.

"No. No, Adrian. I _want_ to find him. I _need_ to find him, and soon. He wouldn't want this—he wouldn't want to be a monster. We talked about it once." A tear leaked down my face, but I was quick to swipe it away. "And maybe then I can move on…" I let my voice trail off.

"Don't rush it, little dhampir. You need to heal first; he was your first love.

"Yes…too bad this isn't something you can just fix," I laughed weakly.

"Maybe I can," he said, "Maybe when you get back, I can try." I smiled sadly, not at all sure if I was okay with that. I hoped that I would be able to let him help me, to give him a fighting chance when I got back. "You need to wake up now, little dhampir. I'll see you the next time you sleep," he chuckled. He leaned forward, kissing me on the forehead again.

"Goodbye, Adrian."

"Be careful, Rose."

"I will." And then I woke up. No attacks had been made during the night, thankfully, but something was off, I thought.

I picked myself up off of the ground, my legs stiff from sleeping in the fetal position. I did not feel nauseas, so I knew that no Strigoi were lurking in the shadows. Nevertheless, I searched the woods around my makeshift campsite. I found nothing, and passed the weird feeling off as paranoia.

So, I set off to the east—the direction the chatty Strigoi had told me to go.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

**For you, Gabby!! I'll put an asterisk on the paragraph. 3**

It was a rather nice day, the sun was unnaturally bright, though. I walked most of the day, only stopping to rest for about ten minutes. I made a good pace, seeing as how Adrian had, by some freaky side-affect of Spirit, healed me, so I'd traveled about sixty miles.

About thirty minutes away from sunset, I stumbled across a really weird-looking rock. I mean, it was really out of place, and pine needles were scattered around it, despite the fact that the closest trees were a good six meters away. I was sure that it was a trap; it was like someone had wanted me to find it.

I rolled the rock over and kicked the leaves away. What I found was really not what I had expected: it was a cave. I couldn't tell how far it went into the ground, but, by the looks of it, it went about eight feet down at a steady slope, then leveled out. _Now the question is: Am I dumb enough to go in? Especially now that there are only about twenty minutes before it's Strigoi happy hour?_ I asked myself. I realized that I hadn't made a good sarcastic remark since I left the Academy…

"Hope I'm not losing my edge," I mused, "I'll need it when I find him."

I knew without a doubt that this was a Strigoi hideout. And I also knew that the twenty minutes of sunlight did not matter, considering it was underground. I was going in.

"As long as I'm going to do something stupid, I might as well check the woods to make sure nothing's going to pile in on top of me."

I turned and made my way into the trees, stopping for a second to tell myself to be careful. Strigoi didn't need to worry about sun when the trees are this thick… there could be a whole pack in there and I wouldn't even know until they caught me. I took a moment to inhale deeply—I didn't feel nauseas, so I went into the trees. I walked for a while, probably about half a mile around the perimeter of the cave.

As I started to walk back, the nausea hit me hard—there were five Strigoi somewhere nearby. I pulled out my stake.

Then, something came at me from my left side, trying to catch me by surprise. I crouched down, and it tripped over me. I dove on top of it and staked him through the back.

Another launched itself at me, smacking me on the side of my head. I rolled over and got to my feet. We circled each other, each looking for an opportunity to attack the other.

"So, you're Rose, I assume," I knew he was just trying to distract me, and it almost worked.

"How do you know my name?"

"Dimitri speaks of you often." He chuckled when I winced. "So it is you. He'll be so excited to see you, and I can see why—you're pretty enough to eat." He laughed at his joke. I lunged at him, and the stake scraped across his side; he'd turned, trying to avoid my attack. He screamed loudly.

He smacked me, his fingernails digging into the side of my face. I yelped and jumped backwards. He smirked. "You're a feisty one." He dove for my legs, wrapping his arms around my knees and taking us both to the ground.

"It's a shame that I have to kill you now, he wanted you all to himself." I kicked him viciously, managing to free my legs long enough to roll backwards and onto my feet again. This one wasn't going to be as easy as the others. I could tell that he had been a dhampir and a guardian before he was changed. And a good one, judging by all his _molnija_ marks. We stated at each other, neither of us moving.

"Wait, I know you…" I said as I peered at his face. It finally dawned on me who he was. "You're Dimitri's mentor. Davis." It surprised me enough for him to smack me into a tree, and my vision blurred for a moment. I moaned in pain. It seemed as if I was going to have to visit Adrian again.

"Correct, little girl. Now, let's stop this game. We don't want to keep him waiting, now do we?" he grabbed my arms and pinned them behind my back, but I had no intention of letting him drag me to Dimitri. He may have been a Strigoi, but he was still a guy. My foot came up and nailed him between the legs as hard as I could manage. He released my arms and fell backwards. I straddled him and staked him before he could even recover. But the nausea didn't leave-there were still three more Strigoi to finish.

"Come out, come out, wherever you are," I sang, searching the trees for the monsters. "I know you're there—I can sense you," I admitted. All three of them came out at the same time, thinking that their numbers and age would intimidate me. Wrong. I was much too angry, and much too anxious to finish with them and find Dimitri so I could get home to Lissa.

"Finally, a challenge," I said. I twirled my bloody stake in my hand. "Who's first, boys?" I had the advantage because they all dove at me at once, bumping into each other. I leaped over them and staked one, the other two growled ferociously and picked themselves up. I swear Strigoi are disgusting. I mean, they smell horrible, and one whiff of human, dhampir, or Moroi, and they're drooling all over themselves! Seriously. And the one on the left must have had some freaky spit-gland problems, because he was soaked. Ew.

*******I pulled my hand up to my face and bent one finger, beckoning them. I smiled. The first was harder to take down, but once I tackled him, I killed him quickly. "Just you and me now," I said, repeating myself from the first time I was attacked in Siberia. I ran at him, faking left then swerving to the right. He didn't fall for it. He caught me by the shoulder with one arm and threw me to the ground and tackled me, trapping my hands between us. I maneuvered it enough to where I could shove it up and through something, but I didn't realize that it was his groin until I pulled the stake out and he started rolling on the ground, curled up into a ball. I laughed evilly; it was possibly the funniest thing I had ever seen. By the way he screamed, you'd think that I was peeling his skin off with the stake. *******

"Not so tough now, are you?" I staked him and tore off five more scraps of cloth for my collection. I'd killed eight Strigoi since coming to Siberia.

I turned, surveying the woods once more, it was dark now, but my super-charged dhampire eyes let me see everything clearly. "Guess it's time to go back to that cave." I made my way back to the opening in the ground and pulled out the lighter. _I may need it if he's really in there._

I dropped my backpack and started to creep down the slope. I made no noise. The cave went along like this for about eighty steps, and then forked into two separate tunnels. I paused. If I went into one and he was there, I would probably die. If I went into one and he wasn't there, but he heard me, he could sneak in behind me and kill me or turn me before I even knew what was happening. Either way, I was probably going to die.

I went left.

Continuing down the tunnel, I paused when I felt something. It was almost like wind, but I knew that there was not way that there was a breeze in this underground cave. Almost like something running towards me, very, very fast.

Something hit the side of my face, grinding the side with the claw marks from before into the cave wall. My vision blurred again, but I rolled to my right, away from whatever had attacked me.

"Looking for me?" a sickly sweet voice said. It had a slight Russian accent. "Guess who?" he laughed.


	6. Author's Note!

**Author's Note**

**Sorry I haven't updated in, like, 2 months, but I've been super busy, what with the Beta convention coming up (I leave tomorrow) and all the stupid AP and honors classes I'm taking. I've been totally swamped! But, I just wanted to let you all know that I haven't given up on this story; I have a ton of ideas, and I intend to continue this story until I've used them all! Haha**

**Anyways, the next update should be coming within a week or so; I don't get back from the convention until Tuesday, and then there's the matter of finding my lost notebook (which holds the next chapter)... so yeah.**

**Don't give up on me yet! **

**And, for those of you who are totally dying to know, it won't ruin the next chapter if I go ahead and tell you that Rose and Dimitri are both alive! (as of now)**

**Woohoo! **

**Thanks!**


	7. Chapter 6

_**Author's Note (May 27, 2009): Ok... here's the deal. I wrote this chapter and the next with the idea that Rose's awesome shadow-kissed-ness would save them both... but then I got to thinking about some stuff that I could do with this story... and I decided to rewrite this chapter! So this is the new chapter (it doesn't change until the last few paragraphs). **_

_**"Why?" you ask? Because it takes away from the glory if Rose doesn't get to have all of her awesome Strigoi marks! : ) **_

Chapter 6

**Okay, readers, if you've read my Blood Promise, this is where the story changes! Yay! **

"Guess who?" he said.

"No…" I whispered. It was so much wore than I had imagined. He was covered in blood—it was in his hair, on his clothes, and it was dried in rivulets coming from his mouth. He had horrible, ugly fangs that I could see even in the darkness. They shone brilliantly white. He had on the same guardian's outfit that he had worn when I last saw him. And, lastly, I looked into his eyes: they were the same dark, chocolate brown, but they were scarlet around the edges, and there were bags under them.

But I could see so many emotions flooding through those gorgeous eyes. There were two sides of him now: the Strigoi side that wanted to kill me and suck my dry, and the human Dimitri, who loved me, hated for me to see him like this, and who didn't want to hurt me. The Strigoi half was winning. He laughed viciously.

"Surely you're not surprised to see me? You were looking for me, correct?" I picked myself up off of the ground and backed away from him, shifting into a defensive position. I nodded tightly.

"Yes, but before I destroy you, the real Dimitri should know that I love him, and that I hate that I have to do this." I hardened my heart and hoped that the small human portion that was left could understand.

His hand clutched his chest over his heart, "I'm hurt! The _real_ Dimitri? This is me, _Roza_," he mocked me, "the _real_ me! You were right, that day you kissed me in the gym—I was always holding back, always guarding my feelings!" He threw his arms wide and tilted his head back, taking in a deep breath. "And now I don't have to!" he yelled. I cringed back towards the wall. This certainly wasn't what I had expected. Abruptly, he calmed down. "Roza," he said again, still mocking me, "Were you looking for me?" I nodded, never taking my eyes off of his heart. This _would not_ turn out like my dream. "Well, then you listened to nothing that I taught you." I staggered back as if he'd hit me. It was a cruel insult, but I let my hurt dissolve into anger. I straightened up, tensing, ready to pounce. He laughed.

He was teasing me, trying to get me to say something stupid. It was not going to work.

"Just shut the hell up and fight me!" I screamed at him. He actually looked a bit astonished. "It doesn't matter what you say to me! You are not _my_ Dimitri! You're a fake, a cheap imitation of the man that I love! And now I'm going to kill you." Something flickered in his eyes. Hope?

Then it was gone. "Oh? So sure that you can beat me? You could barely best me when I was human. I may have taught you everything that you know, but I didn't teach you everything that I know." He laughed again, seeming to take great pleasure from my uncertainty. I stopped, knowing that he could be telling the truth. He took the crack in my defenses to kick me hard in the stomach; I hear something crack loudly, and I yelped, but I managed to grab his leg and twist it around before he could withdraw it. I used it to shove him away and into the wall. I smirked.

He righted himself, "Same old Rose. And you're wrong, about two things actually: I am Dimitri. All of him. And, _I never loved you_." He spoke excruciatingly slowly, driving the words home.

"No. You're lying," I whispered, refusing to believe him.

"You were just a toy to me—a child—I never took you seriously. You were just something to keep me busy until I found someone better."

"You're lying!" I screamed at the top of my lungs. "You are lying, and I hate you! You will die. Now. Right now, you son of a *itch." I jumped on him, smacking him in the face, grabbing him by the hair and slamming his head into the wall. My own fury surprised me. You know those stories where a car crashes and there's a kid trapped inside, and the mother gets a burst of super-powers and is able to roll the car over with one hand and save the kid? I was having one of those moments. He smashed my hand between his head and the wall, but I ignored it and grabbed him by the shoulders and hurled him across the seven foot wide cave and into the other wall.

I looked down at my hand; it was bloody and broken, but I didn't care. I had forgotten about him for a second, though. Big mistake. He had crawled back to me, grabbing my ankle and pulling my feet out from under me. I was standing very close to the wall, so when he pulled me down, me head smacked into the wall. My vision swam; I could feel the blood running down the back of my neck. _No_. I told myself. _He has to die._

He was on top of my now, straddling me. He leaned over me, pressing my wrists into the ground. My shattered hand was screaming in pain; I moaned. "Rose," he said. I looked at him. I could see the two parts of him fighting for control and I wondered in passing which one would win. I was going to die, I was sure. Either that, or wake up Strigoi. I'd rather die. I struggled, trying to get free, but he was so, so strong.

Finally, the Strigoi side won. He lowered his head down to my neck, his teeth grazing my skin. I closed my eyes tight.

Then he bit me.

It was not like a Moroi bite—it hurt so bad—I screamed.

But, in his feeding frenzy, he had released my wrists. My hands came up and grabbed both sides of his face, pulling him away from my neck and pushing him off with my feet. He took a big chunk of my neck with him. He growled and rolled back onto his feet.

"Nice try, Comrade," I said. He flinched like I had slapped him. I pulled out my stake.

"You really think you can kill me, Roza?" he asked. He sounded pleading and serious, but I could see in his eyes that he was toying with me. "After that night in the cabin? How we loved each other? And you still love me—I know you do. Join me, Roza. We can be together. No one can stop us. No guardians would be a match for us together. There's no one to stand in our way. We c1an love each other without me losing my job or you getting expelled from school," he really was begging now; it confused me. He crossed the space between us, putting his hands on my shoulders and staring lovingly into my eyes.

"Dimitri," I whispered, lowering my head. "Kiss me," I said suddenly. "kiss me—I need to know that you still love me." He smiled and pressed his lips to mine, kissing me passionately, almost violently.

I almost lost myself in that kiss, but then I remembered my goal. I didn't have a clean shot to his heart, but I could get close. My right hand cam up, shoving my stake up and into his chest. He stopped the kiss and screamed, falling backwards. I looked down at him, and he looked up and saw me. His eyes were not red anymore, but all I could think about was that I had stabbed the man I loved, and he was going to die. His humanity was back, or at least the Strigoi part had given us some alone time.

I knelt beside him, and he smiled. "That's my Rose," his eyelids fluttered, but I wasn't ready for him to die.

"No, no, no," I sobbed, "Don't leave me yet!" He looked at me, making a visible effort to stay conscious.

"Okay, Roza. I'll try."

"Tell me what you need me to do…" I begged.

"Ah, Roza. I love you. I was lying before. I do love you, with all of my heart and soul, I love you." His breathing hitched, and I stroked his face with my fingertips. With my other hand, I brushed the blood-caked hair back from his forehead.

"I love you, too…" I could barely speak from crying so hard, "I don't know how I can live without you… _I don't want to live without you_."

"No, Roza! You have to. You have to take care of Lissa. You'll move on. I need you to move on, for me." I shook my head.

"I don't know if I can."

"Please, _doushka_," he said, the Russian making his words that much more beautiful. "You need to heal," he said the same words that Adrian had said to me before, "Let Adrian heal you," I started to protest, but he stopped me. "He loves you—almost as much as I do." I looked down, seeing that I had gotten the side of his heart. He would die within minutes. "Roza, there are more Strigoi in this cave. At least one hundred. You have to get back to Lissa; you have to give Adrian a chance. For me, please. Promise me, Roza." We were both crying now.

"Yes, Dimitri. Anything, anything for you…" I sobbed, my tears washing some of the blood from his clothes and chest.

"Roza," he breathed, he tried to lean towards me, but couldn't, so I leaned in. He kissed me softly, lovingly. I kissed him back, tasting both of our tears.

"I love you Dimitri… I love you more than Lissa, more than I could ever love anyone else. More than my own life."

"I love you too, Roza, doushka, my soul."

I saw the light leaving his eyes, saw him slipping through my fingers, and I couldn't do anything about it.

I stared at his body, not believing that he was dead. That he _could be_ dead. I heard a noise, a horrible, broken, grating sound, and it took me a while to realize that it was me. I was crying so hard that I couldn't see. _He's really gone…_ I stayed there for a while, still stroking his hair and face, and just crying. Crying because he was dead, crying because I had lost the thing that had mattered the most to me, crying because I couldn't believe that life could be so unfair, and, lastly, crying because I couldn't live—couldn't breath—without him. As if to prove the point, my breathing hitched. I felt like a Strigoi was sitting on my chest. My tears ran down, washing the blood from his face and hair.

But then I remembered what he had said, _Roza, there are more Strigoi in this cave. At least one hundred,_ and I thought of the perfect way to avenge my Dimitri. I would kill them, all of them. Every. Last. One. I gritted my teeth. That would show them to mess with Rose Hathaway. I had a special torture planned for the blond who had threatened Lissa, then turned my poor Dimitri. I was going to stake him where it hurt, then write my name on his face with my stake, next I would stake him near his heart, just enough so that he won't die until I finished with him, then I'd slowly saw his head off with it. It was a bit gruesome, but fitting, seeing as how he had taken away my love, my happiness.

I stood up, leaving him lying on the cave floor. I would come back to give him a decent burial, once I had killed the others. I picked up my stake, gripping it hard and turning back towards the other tunnel. I rounded the corner and kept walking. I listened for any noise, hearing everything: the dripping of the wet cave walls, the occasional rat scurrying past, bats readjusting their wings near the ceiling. Then I heard them, and sensed them. Six Strigoi. They were arguing about something; four of them had their backs turned. They were so into their argument that they didn't hear me sneak up behind them. I had stabbed the first three before the others even knew what was going on. The three that were left backed up, regrouping to attack me. Two were girls, both with blonde hair; they were Moroi before they had been turned. The one in the middle was a guy with solid black hair and dark facial features. He had been a dhampir, and he would probably be the hardest to kill. The girls jumped at me, the guy staying back and circling us. I blocked one of them, sending her crashing into the wall; the other hit me head on. We hit the floor hard, with her on top of me. I head butted her, confusing her long enough to roll over and stake her. Then I remembered the lighter that just happened to be in my pocket. I pulled it out, flicked it on, and watched the fear cover the other two's faces. I laughed.

I lunged at the girl, stabbing her in the side with the stake, and lighting her shirt while she was distracted. She screamed, then began to "stop, drop, and roll", which I thought was extremely funny. The guy dove at me, but I stepped out of the way. He grazed the lighter as he flew past me and into the wall, so now he was also in flames. I staked both of them to make sure they were dead, and then took six scraps of cloth from one that wasn't burning, putting it in one of my pants pockets. I continued down the passageway.

Most of the fights that I got into on my way towards whatever was the end of this cave went just like that. I would kill them all, and then take a piece of material from each of them. I was in a daze now: nothing was a threat, nothing was real. It was like a dream. I kept killing, and they kept coming. I had killed over 70 by now, but more and more came. Then I came to a large cavern filled with tons of Strigoi. Dimitri had been wrong, there were at least 400 in this cave, maybe closer to 500. And all that were left had gathered in this cavern, by the looks of it. They all turned on me at once, just looking at me. I didn't take my eyes off of them, but I saw something lying on the ground off to the side; it was a dead guardian, young-looking. But the thing that had caught my eye was the sword in his limp hands. It shone silver like a stake, so I knew that it was protected with the same magic, and most importantly, it would stake or behead a Strigoi. I stepped over and grabbed it, still looking at the Strigoi. I threw the lighter and my stake over my shoulder and raised my right hand, pointing the sword at the closest Strigoi.

Then we fought. All of them, against me. Three ran at me, so I directed my sword so that one ran onto it, and then I snapped it around to behead the other two. I was definitely loving this sword. After that more came, and I got angrier and angrier. How could they change him? How could they destroy me like that? This was my revenge, and I was enjoying it thoroughly. I relished each scream they made as my sword either staked or beheaded each one. My rage had overwhelmed me; I vaguely thought about how weird it was that I was having an out-of-body experience now. I could see myself killing them, and the creepy smile on my face as I did it. I smiled even bigger; I really was a badas* now.

Then it was over. Only one was left: the blond.

"We meet again, beautiful Rose," he chuckled. As if he could beat me. He was clean, especially for a Strigoi. I looked down: I was caked in blood a mixture of mine and theirs. My hair, originally pulled back into a tight ponytail, had fallen about halfway, most of it cascading into my face now. I had countless injuries, and every part of me hurt. I looked like a mess, but he would look much worse when I was through with him.

"You *sshole! First you threaten to go after Lissa, then you killed Dimitri!" My vision blurred and turned red around the edges.

"No, no, no," he laughed, "my dear, I gave him life as an immortal. _You_ killed him."

"I had no choice! He didn't want that! He wanted to be a dhampir, not a monster! He would have killed himself if he could have! But now I have to kill you!" I brandished my sword at him.

"Very well, as you wish," He jumped on me, knocking my sword out of my hand. We rolled several feet, but he ended up on top of me, choking me. I gasped for air, black spots dancing in my eyes. The sword was by my right foot, though. So I slid it between my feet and tried to kick it towards my hands. It worked, and I grabbed it, smacking him over the head with it. We rolled again, but this time I landed on top. I pressed the blade of the sword across his neck, trapping his head down. I yelped as my broken left hand throbbed. He whimpered, the magic in the blade forming welts on his skin. I held the sword there with one hand, my knees trapping his wrists, and with my other hand, I pulled out my extra stake. "This is what you get for killing him!" I screamed at him as I wrote "Rose" across his forehead with the stake. He shrieked as it dug into his skin, and I laughed. "Not so pretty now, are you? Lucky for you, I hate my real name."

He continued screaming. My ears rang and I longed to get this over with so I could get back to Lissa…and Adrian. My concentration lapsed as I thought the last part, and he saw it. He flung me off of him and into the wall opposite, making my sword slip out of my hand. It skidded across the floor towards him, and I fell into a heap on the floor. I drug myself off of the ground, everything hurting so badly that I probably would have passed out; but my anger kept me conscious.

He glared at me, my name bleeding profusely from his forehead. My back was braced against the wall, it was the only thing keeping me from falling. My arms were stretched out to my side at 45 degree angles to help with my balance. Then some strange emotion flickered across his face; he lunged for the sword. As soon as his hand touched the hilt, it started smoking as it burnt his skin, but he didn't hold on to it for long. He threw straight at my face. Lucky for me, he had bad aim. But it did spear my right forearm to the wall. I screamed shrilly; it hurt like hell, so much worse than everything else. But he was closing in, so I had to do something. I pulled the sword out with my left hand, not an easy task since it hurt so badly and because every bone in my left hand was shattered. Then I flung it right back at him. It struck him high in the chest—his heart. Finally, he was dead. He couldn't hurt me anymore, or Lissa, or anyone that I loved. I sighed with relief.

I looked around at the carnage that I had caused in the gigantic room. In truth, it would have been a very beautiful place if there hadn't been blood smeared all over the walls from the Strigoi massacre that had just happened. I tore off a square of cloth from each of the Strigoi—this alone took a good 45 minutes. I silently marveled at my success in killing that many. Either they were weak, or I am the most awesome guardian ever. I liked to think that it was the last one. I decided not to burn them. Let the smell attract more Strigoi, let them see what would happen when you messed with me. I picked up my lighter, the sword, and the stakes, putting the stakes back into my boot and jacket. Then I shoved the sword through my belt loop, making a weird temporary holder thing.

I took the lighter to the largest wall then, burning my name slowly onto the cave wall. I might as well take the opportunity to scare the crap out of anyone who saw this, if they weren't already heading for the hills. I stood back and admired my work. "Rose Hathaway" was burned menacingly into the huge wall. I turned bitterly, making my way all the way back to the cave entrance. It was almost morning now.

I started to pick up my backpack when pain in my hand made me collapse to the ground, whimpering. I guess I'd better check my injuries. It was so hard to stay awake; I had lost so much blood—at least twenty bite marks laced up and down my arms, about 15 on my legs, and a few on my waist and shoulders. So, basically, if I survived the blood loss, I was going to have some awesome battle scars. I looked myself over. I had at least three broken ribs, bruises and cuts all over me, a fractured or sprained wrist, a completely broken hand, something was wrong with my right knee—it wouldn't straighten completely, I had a huge chunk missing out of my neck, the left side of my face was bruised badly, the right side had claw marks from my eye to my jaw-line, and my right forearm had been shish-kabobbed by a three-inch wide sword. Ouch. I was also about 90% sure that I had a concussion, and probably some internal bleeding.

_Dimitri..._

I couldn't just leave his body there, with all those worthless Strigoi. I dragged myself back into the cave and to his body, sobbing dryly; no tears would come. He was surrounded by ghosts, including Lissa's deceased family. I crawled the remainder of the way to him, the missing tears finally falling from my eyes.

I kneeled by his chest, leaning over him to cross his arms over his stomach, like I had seen at funeral homes, wishing like *ell that I was the one dead, that he was still alive.

"No, no, no! I'm supposed to be dead, take me!" I screamed to the ghosts that were now surrounding us. Then something strange happened.

As I leaned forward, still crying, my tears fell onto his chest. But, the thing is, they were glowing pale white, shining like stars. I watched in amazement as the wound through his heart sealed, and his chest jumped. He was breathing; he was alive; and I think I did it. Then the darkness took me.

**Longest chapter ever... I'm sorry that it wasn't all new, though : (**

**Next chapter should be coming up REALLY soon, though! (And I mean it this time!) My school has already let out for summer, and I managed to come out of my stupid online class with a 100... Go figure. Oh yeah, and for those who are wondering, the TN Beta Convention was awesome! I was in the talent competition and finished in the top 8 out of about 30, so that's pretty cool... **

**But enough about me! : )**

**HEY... maybe if you review a lot it will motivate me to post faster : )**

**(Please!)**

**(And thank you!)**


	8. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

DPOV

I don't know what happened. One moment, I was Strigoi. Next, I wasn't, but my Roza was there, and I was dying. Then I died. I came out of my body; I could see myself, with Roza crying like her life had been torn away. It broke my heart, all over again. She cried there for a moment, making horrible, broken, grating sounds as the sobs ripped out of her throat. She stood up, a fire burning in her eyes. _My Roza..._

She grabbed her stake and walked swiftly back towards the other tunnel. It took me a moment to realize that she wasn't leaving; she was going to attack them. I followed her, yelled at her telling her not to do it. I mentally kicked myself for telling her about the other Strigoi in the cave; she shouldn't have to die, too. I knew that she could hear and see me, but her anger was blocking me out. I gave up and decided to follow her. _At least I will have her back...No! She won't die... She's too smart. I hope._

I marveled at the number she killed, but, every time she was hurt, I hurt, as cliché as it sounds. The massacre continued when she came to the cavern near the center of the cave.

I saw him before she did: the blonde Strigoi who bit me. Her eyes narrowed and fists clenched when she saw him. She looked horrible, covered in blood as she was, all of it hers. My nonexistent heart clenched, soaring, for my Roza was the most beautiful and fearsome thing I had ever seen. I went to stand beside her—her guardian angel. In that moment, I knew that I could help some if she needed it. Her sword twitched in her shaking hand, and I stared at it—I had never seen such a remarkable weapon.

"We meet again, beautiful Rose," he chuckled, and I growled wordlessly. She was not his to call beautiful.

"You a**hole! First, you threaten to go after Lissa, then you killed Dimitri!" She was shaking with her anger.

"No, no, no," he laughed, "my dear, I gave him life as an immortal. _You_ killed him."

"I had no choice! He didn't want that! He wanted to be a dhampir, not a monster! He would have killed himself if he could have! But now I have to kill you." She finished gravely, brandishing her sword at him.

"Very well. Your wish is my command." He lunged at her, knocking the sword out of her hand. He landed on top, and they rolled, his hand choking down on her throat. I kneeled by her right foot, maneuvering the sword so that she would be able to reach it. I couldn't give it to her directly, or just pull him off of her and kill him myself; I didn't know how or why I knew it, but I had a gut feeling that it would hurt her if I tried to help directly.

She saw the sword then, and kicked it to where she could grab it. It caught him by surprise, and she smacked him over the head with it. They rolled again, but this time Rose landed on top, pushing the flat of the blade across his neck, trapping him. He whimpered as his skin bubbled against the magic in the sword. She held it there with one hand, her knees trapping his wrists, and pulled out her stake with her other hand.

"This is for killing him!" she screamed as she carved her name onto his forehead. I gasped. He screamed as it burrowed in and out of his skin. I smirked—that would leave a nice mark. She laughed menacingly. "Not so pretty now, are you? Lucky for you, I hate my full name."

Her concentration faltered then, and he used the opening to launch her off of him and into the wall opposite, causing the sword to slip out of her hand. She hit the wall hard, landing in a crumpled heap on the floor. I felt it in my soul—if this continued, she wouldn't last for much longer.

The sword skidded to a halt at his feet. Roza stood slowly, using the wall to support herself. Revenge flashed across his face, and before I could think of a way to stop him, he had lunged for the sword, flinging it straight at her face. I did the only thing that I could think to do—I made him miss his target. But, because she had her arms stretched out to keep her balance, it speared her right through her forearm. She screamed, her back arching, and he started to close in on her. She pulled it out, whimpering.

Then, she launched it right back at him with an overwhelming effort. It struck him straight through the heart, and he fell back, dead. She stumbled over to him and pulled the sword out, then proceeded to rip a scrap of cloth from each body in the large cavern, for what I assume was documenting purposes. _My smart, beautiful, Roza... _

She turned and walked to the mouth of the cave, stashing the cloth away, then dragged herself back to me, to my body. I joined the ranks of the ghosts there; I could see them now. Tears rolled down her face as she kneeled beside me, moving my arm so that she could cross them over my chest.

Then something weird happened. Her tears washed over my chest, mingling with the blood from my heart and her tears turned silver. I gasped; I knew what it was.

It was life.

She was giving me life.

I was snapped back into my body then. I sat up, and she rolled off of me, landing on the floor. Her face was a sickening shade of gray. I looked down to where the hole in my chest was supposed to be—it had disappeared. I crawled over to her, cradling her face to mine.

I was crying now, too. She was limp in my arms; I pulled her chest up to my ear, listening to her heart. It was beating, but very faintly. I shook her gently, trying to revive her; I laid her back on the cave floor, tracing my fingers lightly over her eyelids.

"Roza, wake up. Roza. I need you to wake up, sweetheart. Please, Roza. Please..." I whispered repeatedly. My eyes drifted over the contours of her face, stopping at her lips. I could resist; after being separated, thinking that I would never be able to kiss her again... I had to touch her, kiss her. Now. I crushed my lips to hers, kissing her passionately. After a few moments, she stirred, and then she was kissing me back just as fiercely. My heart rose in my chest; I couldn't believe that we were both alive and were together.

She pulled back, a first for us, and I smiled. Her hands fluttered over my face weakly, making sure that it really was me. I nodded. More tears rolled down my face. She was breathing heavily—I thought that she might faint—so I scooped her up and carried her across the corridor, setting her down with her back to the wall to prop her up. I kneeled beside her, still smiling from ear to ear like an idiot.

Then I noticed her left hand—it was completely crushed and bleeding badly. I gasped, "Rose, what...?" I couldn't finish. She explained briefly, sparing me the details.

"Oh, Rose," I whispered, "you could have been killed!" Her eyelids fluttered; she looked so exhausted.

"I owed it to you. You don't deserve that, to be that," she said confusedly.

"Rose, you don't owe me anything! All I've done for you is steal your heart and ruin your reputation!" I protested.

She smiled weakly, "My reputation was already pretty bad."

I laughed, "Oh yes, Rose Hathaway, the scariest novice I'd ever seen."

"Scary?" she asked doubtfully, a small smile gracing her lips.

"Yes, scary." I smiled back. "I didn't think I'd be able to tame you, to make you into a working guardian, but I was wrong. Well, at least about the second part." She laughed, but the air caught in her lungs and she coughed, whimpering. I inched back a bit to take all of her in.

She looked absolutely horrible. Her face was scratched and bloody, she had bruises and cuts everywhere, and I was about ninety percent sure that something very bad was going to happen if I didn't get her to a hospital. She shivered, her eyelids fluttering.

"Hey, hey," I held her face gently in my fingertips, forcing her sleepy eyes to look into mine. "Stay with me, okay? You can't sleep now, honey. I'm sorry. But you have to stay awake." She nodded tiredly and coughed again, blood covering her hand as she pulled it away from her mouth. I gasped.

"Oh, sure. It would just be my luck to die right after I finally got you back," she joked. I didn't think it was funny.

**Review please! Every review I get is like a kiss from Dimitri! 3 : )**


	9. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

RPOV

I don't know what happened. One minute I was sobbing all over the dead love of my life, then I was crying silver tears onto his chest, then he was alive, but, I wasn't. I fainted, and I found myself in…well…nowhere. Everything was black; all I could see were faint figures all around me—the ghosts that were so common for me now. I looked around.

"Where am I?" I asked. I looked up, and a ghost whom I knew well came to stand in front of me. "Andre? Where am I? Am I…dead?" I asked, faltering for a minute. What if I was dead? What would happen to Lissa? But he just stared at me. The patch of darkness that I had seen in the plane materialized behind him, and he pointed to it. I got that same eerie feeling that told me that I should go into it; I didn't belong with the living. I started towards it, and it pulled me like a magnet.

But then another ghost was in front of me, a ghost that I had thought gone forever. "Mason…" I whispered. He looked just as sad as he had been when I had first seen him. He shook his head. He seemed to have a lot of trouble saying anything, just like before, but he managed to get one word out. "No,' he said. He pointed behind me, and when I turned around, I saw Dimitri holding my body in the cave, almost like looking through a tunnel. He was crying, whispering my name. My heart lurched; he was alive. I turned back to Andre. "Not this time," I told him. I wasn't exactly sure how to get back into my body, though. So I wished with all of my heart for yet another chance. I prayed that I was deserving of another chance.

It was given to me.

**Anyways, I'm going to try to update more… But I'm not making any blood promises! **

**Yeah, I know, punny! **

**Well, me and my bad jokes are going to go write some chapters for Blood Promise now. : ) **

**Hope you love it! **

**3 Meg**


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